Time for the Primal Scream!

Okay, we are almost three weeks into the
cookie program. Does it feel like an eternity to you yet? Have cookies taken over your dreams? Well, even if that's the case, so far
everyone has done excellent work!

I've tried to talk to as many volunteers as I can while they
load cookies, and generally the conversation goes something like, "I was trying
to unload cookies to a parent in a parking lot, someone saw the cases, came by
and purchased two cases before I got them loaded." Or my personal favorite, "I sold some
cookies to some of my friends; they have now eaten them and are back for more."

Despite any chaos, you have successfully survived the first
payment. We have heard over and over again
that, what makes you crazy about this isn't that you need to pay for the cookies,
but chasing that errant parent or two in your troop who doesn't pay. You have to bug them; you have to nag them;
you have to call them again, and it makes you CRAZY! And further, this is the same parent that
drops their daughter off late, picks her up late, cancels attending an event
the troop has paid for, or worse, forgets to tell you she isn't coming and you
sit waiting. At this point, you are
entitled to the PRIMAL SCREAM!

Most of the volunteers I talk to, at some point in the
conversation, talk about this very parent, and almost all troops have at least
one them. They are not necessarily
apologetic about it. When you are most
frustrated with the hassle, it is this parent that you believe might well just
send you over the edge! SCREAM NOW!

So guess what, you are going to get your reward. For 30 years I worked in student discipline
at a college. I would meet the student
and think, "wow, they are impossible."
When things got really bad with the student, I got to meet their
parents. My conclusion was that, at
least with the student, I had a chance for some change. Too often the child was simply a lesser
version of the parents, and some of the parents were pretty scary, and this was
a very expensive university.

You, as a volunteer, are getting the opportunity to change
how it turns out. You are going to do
your level best to be sure that girl from the impossible parents doesn't turn
into one. You have made the world a
better place. And thanks for always being
patient, always understanding and trying to make the best of a situation that
is very hard. It shows who you really
are. It's okay if you need to SCREAM
again, we totally understand. We do it, too.